Curassow in the context of "Cracidae"

Galliformes /ˌɡælɪˈfɔːrmiːz/, also known as gallinaceous birds or landfowl, is an order of heavy-bodied terrestrial birds that contains about 290 species. The order is divided into five families: Phasianidae (chicken and junglefowls, Old World quails, partridges, pheasants, turkeys, peafowl and grouse), Odontophoridae (New World quails), Numididae (guinea fowl), Cracidae (including chachalacas and curassows), and Megapodiidae (incubator birds like malleefowl and brushturkeys). Galliformes and the semi-aquatic order Anseriformes (waterfowl) are collectively called fowl.

Galliform birds have adapted to most environments except innermost deserts and perpetually icy regions, inhabiting every continent except Antarctica. They are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and insectivores/vermivores, and many are skilled ground-dwellers that escape predators by running rather than flying. They are sexually dimorphic, and males of most species are more colorful than the females, with often elaborate courtship behaviors that include strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers, and vocal sounds. They are mainly non-migratory.

Chachalacas are galliform birds from the genus Ortalis. These birds are found in wooded habitats in the far southern United States (Texas), Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly common even near humans, as their relatively small size makes them less desirable to hunters than their larger relatives. As agricultural pests, they have a ravenous appetite for tomatoes, melons, beans, and radishes and can ravage a small garden in short order. They travel in packs of six to twelve. Their nests are made of sticks, twigs, leaves, or moss and are generally frail, flat structures only a few feet above the ground. During April, they lay from three to five buffy white eggs, the shell of which is very rough and hard. They somewhat resemble the guans, and the two have commonly been placed in a subfamily together, though the chachalacas are probably closer to the curassows.